Research vessel Neptune photographed in Liverpool docks on 12 May 2014.

She is a multi-purpose survey vessel able to operate up to 40 days at sea. Built in 1977 by Maritime Sveiseindustri in Gerdsvika, Norway as Yard Number 10 and is 49.8m long with a 9.6m beam and 5.6m draught.

Accommodation is provided on board for 35 people in 22 cabins, the ship also has a hospital, gym, meeting rooms and a fully enclosed workshop / garage opening onto the main deck as well as the online and offline survey rooms.She has had a number of refits (2008 and 2013) to improve the vessels accommodation and shallow and deep water capabilities and is equipped with Hyrdrographic, Geophysical, Geotechnical and Environmental surveyequipment.

Powered by a Alpha Diesel (1820HP) engine her service speed is 9 knots with a maximum speed of 12 knots. The vessel also has twin Deutz (550hp) auxiliary engines and bow and stern thrusters rated at 330kW and 25kW respectively.The vessel is also equipped with a 10T 'A' frame for the deployment of geotechnical equipment in addition to suction dredging equipment and ROV's, two deck cranes are also available with capacities of 1.96T @ 9m and 6.2T @ 3m respectively.She was bought in 2008 by Neptune EHF who are based in Iceland, they provide fully crewed survey vessels worldwide.

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My interest in ships and the sea started back in 2006 when I worked for a couple of years on the banks of the River Mersey. I have since been on a couple of cruises around the Med and in the Far East and have started to take more interest in researching and photographing some of the ships and other vessels seen on my travels.